Best Friends Through Eternity Read Online Free PDF Page B

that?” Her eyes open crazy wide. Sparks seem to fly from them.
    “I wanted to try a burger just once before I died.”
Whoops. Did I say that?
She doesn’t seem to notice, anyway. “Mom, I don’t need to go to Emergency. I have homework. Can we just stay home?”
    She takes a breath, feels my forehead. “No fever.” Her mouth crumples as she tries to decide.
    “She had the runs,” Dad tells her.
    “Only once. I’ll tell you if I feel sick again. You know waiting rooms are cesspools for germs.” The last sentence is inspired, and it pushes her over the edge.
    “Paige is right about that. Let’s go back into the house, Tom, and wait.”
    My father’s bottom lip buckles, but he nods. Mom leads the way, hanging her coat up in the hall closet and continuing into the kitchen. She slumps down at the table.
    “Well, okay then. I guess I’ll start supper.” Dad begins getting stuff from the fridge, his usual cooking routine, only he slams the door and drops things.
    I sit down beside Mom. “Dad told me about Kim.”
    Mom looks at me, her mouth dropping open.
    “I saw her obituary on the Internet. Is that why we’re vegetarians?”
    After a moment, her mouth closes. “Yes,” she finally answers. “We started Good Foods Market just after, too, so we could make sure people would have safe food.”
    I look back into her blue eyes, eyes that always remind me that she isn’t my real mom. “When did she have the bad hamburger?”
    Mom grabs my hand tightly. “You don’t remember the last time you saw her?”
    I shake my head.
    “It was on your seventh Gotcha Day.”
    Cold fingers tingle down my spine. “I remember! We had a barbecue to celebrate.” No one knows our exact birthdays so our parents celebrated the day they took us from the orphanage. Kim and I were adopted around the same time, so we celebrated together.
    “She became sick immediately.”
    “From the burgers Dad cooked?” I grip her hand back.
    “Mrs. Ellis bought them from a good butcher.”
    “But I didn’t get sick.”
    “Maybe you didn’t eat yours. You were always such a picky kid. Or maybe yours was cooked right through.” Mom shrugs.
    “People don’t usually die from bad meat,” Dad explains as he chops mushrooms at the counter. “Little kids, old people with—”
    “Weakened immune systems,” I finish for him.
    “Right.”
    “Oh my gawd,” I whisper. “It could have been me.”
    “We felt very lucky. Too lucky.”
    “So we didn’t visit her.”
    “Your mom and I did, but she was so sick, she didn’t know anybody,” Dad says. “Hospitals aren’t good places for young children. Your visiting would not have helped.”
    I pull my hand from Mom’s. “It would have helped me.”
    “We didn’t do the right thing, then. I’m sorry.” Dad stares down at the mushrooms as if they were responsible. “We were just a mess.”
    “We intended to tell you. Someday. Once we got our own heads around it.” Mom shrugs. “And then too much time passed.”
    It explains a lot.
    “I’m sorry, too,” she says softly.
    “I get it.” And I do understand, but somehow I still feel lied to and cheated.
    “Seriously, is your stomach okay?” Dad asks. “Why don’t we go to the walk-in clinic, just in case?”
    “I’m fine.” I try to smile but can’t.
    He hands Mom a cup of tea, giving me a sideways glance. Then he goes back to his chopping. I can smell onions frying and see a stack of white cubes piling up. Dad is making my favorite—tofu stroganoff. He puts a large pot of water on to boil for the egg noodles.
    Mom asks me about my day as we wait for supper and try to act normal.
    I tell her about Cameron and Vanessa breaking up. She only knows them vaguely from hearing about them and seeing them at school occasionally. But I tell her again how good-looking Cameron is and how all the girls like him. “Mom, he flirted with me, but he instantly made a move on Jasmine.”
    “You’re all so young. Maybe he’s attracted